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Sankey Park phase 3: committee works to keep Timber Framers Guild community build in grant package
Summary
Committee and staff are trying to reconcile federal procurement rules with a Timber Framers Guild community-build bandstand included in a larger trail grant; committee is seeking legal/procurement solutions and engineering cost clarity.
Sweet Home — The Park and Tree Committee said May 21 it is working to preserve a community-build bandstand as part of Sankey Park phase 3 after learning federal procurement rules complicate packaging the bandstand with the trail work in the same grant.
City staff and committee members said the bandstand portion was intended for construction through the Timber Framers Guild’s ‘community build’ model, which brings skilled framers and local volunteers together on site. Because the bandstand and trail are in the same grant package, staff said procurement rules currently require the city to bid the entire package together, complicating the Guild’s community-build approach.
Committee members said they have shared engineering details with Lon Tyler of the Timber Framers Guild and are exploring options to award work so the community-build portion can proceed without jeopardizing grant compliance. One committee member described the Guild’s model as “like the Amish barn raising” — professionals handle engineered components while volunteers assist under supervision — and said it typically completes structures quickly while engaging the local community.
Why this matters: the bandstand is part of the funded grant and the committee does not want to lose that funding. Staff said they are working with legal and procurement guidance to allow a single bid that still separates the contractor responsibilities on award.
Discussion and next steps
Committee members noted project costs remain “way above our heads” and emphasized the need for clearer cost estimates and procurement counsel. Staff said they had sent the Guild the trail engineering information so the framers could determine how the bandstand would interface with the trail work.
Staff will meet soon with Timber Framers representatives to explore procurement and contracting options and to seek legal clarification on whether the work can be bid as a single package but awarded in a way that preserves the community-build component. The committee requested staff return with options for procurement pathways and engineering cost estimates so the city can keep the grant-funded bandstand in the project scope.
